The "Rotary Cup"

Formally known as the "Rotator Cuff", these four muscles can be the culprit of several upper body aches and pains if not properly managed. The subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor all attach to the head of the humerus - as shown in the picture above. These four muscles work individually and together to connect your humerus to your scapula to the rest of your body. 

While there are many muscles that attach to the humerus, the shoulder is the least supported joint in the body. Take a minute and think about how often you use your arm throughout the day. Yep, that's right. You use them all day long! This makes the shoulder joint and connecting muscles, tendons, and ligaments much more susceptible to repetitive stress injuries, tendinitis, bursitis, and muscle tears. Especially in those who participate in overhead and repetitive motion sports such as swimming, baseball, tennis, and weight lifting. The repetitive motions and extra weight overhead put a lot of strain on these rather small muscles. 

Massage therapy is a great integration into any healthcare routine, even more so when athletic activities are involved. Muscle specific techniques can help the muscle fibers repair themselves when injury does occur. Broadening and lengthening strokes can assist in easing muscle tension. Self-care is imperative in keeping the body in top functioning condition!

Is It Time To Slow Down?

These days life seems to have one pace: FAST.

Days fly by, your to-do list stacks up, your calendar overflows, before you know it weeks have flown by.

Where do you even find time to have 5 seconds to breathe, let alone time to get a massage?

Just like every other activity in your calendar, you purposefully make time for it. Even crazier, you make time for you!

I can almost guarantee that if you took 30 seconds to stop and assess how your body feels, you would start to realize the toll life has taken on your body. Do your joints feel stiff? Nagging headache? Foggy brain? Trouble sleeping at night?

These are all ways your body is telling you that it is time to slow down and take care of yourself. Listen to them. They may be easily ignored aches and pains now but could easily turn into much bigger problems if they are not addressed correctly. Why add one more problem in life if you can help it?

Studies have shown that as little as 10 - 15 minutes of massage can reduce heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol (long term stress hormone) levels.

Sounds like a pretty healthy alternative to running around like a chicken with their head cut off!

Why I am T.H.A.N.K.F.U.L. for massage!

Techniques That Heal

Not only can your massage therapist make you feel great during your session, they can also give you self-care tools to help you keep feeling great in between appointments. Massage therapy is in direct correlation with improved posture and reduced tension and pain. 

Headache Relief

Do you seem to live with a constant headache? Stress, tension, poor posture, and sleeping habits are just a few ways that life can give you headaches. Your massage therapist can help you figure out what your specific causes are and how to alleviate the problem. 

Anxiety Relief 

For many, anxiety correlates directly with the holidays. Family gatherings, travel, long school breaks, finding the perfect gift, and making huge meals can cause increased stress. No matter the situation, massage therapy can help you slow back down, take time for you, and relieve any added anxiety or stress the holidays may bring. 

Nurture Your Mind, Body, and Soul

Most think that massage is just for the body. However, it gives you the perfect chance to focus on your breathing and thought process. It helps you take time to live intentionally and with more purpose. Deep breathing and a positive mindset enhance your massage experience as well as the rest of your life. 

Knee & Joint Pain Relief

Suffering from any type of joint pain can be troublesome. The pain can be increased with stress and colder temperatures. With massage therapy, you can easily and comfortably warm up and relax stiff, achy joints. 

Forget Your Worries

Massage time is you time. You can leave life at the door and just focus on nothing but relaxing. By the time your massage is done, you'll feel like you went on a mini vacation - refreshed and ready to take on life again. 

Unify Your Senses

One of massage therapy's greatest assets is being able to unite the whole body through the senses. Adding aromatherapy to your session can bring both relaxation and energy. Ask your massage therapist about aromatherapy at your next appointment. 

Lying Still For A Little R&R

Sometimes you just need to stop, breathe, and be still. Getting a massage can and will do just that. It makes you put away your distractions, close your eyes, and breathe. Doing so will leave you feeling renewed and re-energized. 

Geriatric Massage: You're Never Too Old

Geriatric massage is one of my most favorite massage modalities. The impact you can make in a life through positive, caring touch is an incredible reward.

Through my own experience as both a CNA and now as a therapist, I have seen first hand the powerful impact massage therapy can have on the aging body. Whether it was pain and limited mobility from a stroke, difficulty transferring from muscular dystrophy, or uncontrollable tremors from Parkinson's disease, massage can give back precious moments of relief and a regained sense of well-being.

From the death of a spouse, being home bound, or lack of contact with family and friends, positive touch becomes severely diminished in many elderly lives. I don't know about you but I find this absolutely heartbreaking. Everyone deserves a caring, compassionate touch - no matter how old you are.

Several benefits of geriatric massage are reduced anxiety/depression, increased relaxation, encourages deep breathing, reduced joint pain, increased range of motion, ability to sleep better longer, and increased overall sense of well being.

While signs of aging cannot be reversed, through massage, they can be slowed and easier to manage as symptoms progress. Although geriatric massage may present certain limitations due to physical ability and health conditions, it is by far one of the most rewarding ways to impact a life.

Tension Headaches: You've Been A Bad Friend

Tension headaches, regularly mistaken as migraines, are an unfortunate part of many people's lives. They were a daily occurrence for almost a year with me before I found tremendous relief through massage and stress management.

These headaches typically start either in the shoulders or the base of the skull and work their way up and around the head to behind the eyes. They're horrible. Miserable. They try to take over your life if they get bad enough.

For some they may be a rare occurrence or a regular battle. No matter where you fall into that category, your body is all but screaming at you to fix the dysfunction that's happening.

Common triggers for these headaches are physical/emotional stress, too much/too little caffeine, sinus infections, teeth grinding, TMD (temporal-mandibular disease), dehydration, eye strain, and exhaustion.

Most who suffer from these horrible pains often complain of dull, heavy pressure in the neck/head, a tight band around the skull, an 'all-over headache', or worsening symptoms in the bottom of the neck, scalp, and temples.

While there are several remedies for tension headaches, massage therapy has been my personal "tried and true go-to" to reduce and manage headache symptoms. AMTA (American Massage Therapy Association) has a great article stating the benefits of massage specifically for tension headaches.

Other remedies include OTC medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, accupunture, and muscle relaxers. I have also personally found that icing my shoulders and neck help reducing my symptoms and severity of headache - I am not saying that these will work for you, this is just my personal experience.

Scalenes: More Than A Triangle

Difficulty turning your head to the side? Do your fingers go numb randomly? Weird shooting pain in the upper chest?

More than likely, you can thank your scalenes for these less than delightful sensations. Located on both sides of your neck, these small muscles can cause big problems.

Common complaints related to scalene tension and trigger points are pain in the upper chest, pain on the inside border of the shoulder blade, numbness and tingling in the thumb or index fingers, and shoulder pain.

The scalenes become aggravated through poor posture, side and stomach sleeping positions, whiplash, computer work, working overhead, coughing, and chest breathing - to name a few.

Like I said, little muscles, big problems.

Massage can definitely help with these complaints. After a few muscle tests, the specific scalene muscle would be better pinpointed. Incorporating breathing techniques with the massage helps relax the muscles and give the client a focal point other than the discomfort of getting these muscles worked out.

Sternocleidomastoid: The Headache Culprit

Headaches. Everyone gets them. In fact, they are a "normal" part of life for many. However, having headaches should not be normal. They are one of the many ways your body is telling you that something is not functioning correctly.

Over the next few days, I'm going to be doing a headache series. The first muscle I want to talk about is sternocleidomastoid (SCM). There are seven main trigger points, or "knots", that may form in the SCM. These trigger points can cause tension, migraine, and hangover headaches; face pain; difficulty and discomfort swallowing; visual and eye muscle difficulties; dizziness; vertigo; hearing disturbances; sore neck muscles; and upper chest discomfort.

Who knew so many problems could come from one small muscle?!

Some more common causes of SCM trigger points are whiplash, working overhead, bad posture, poor sleeping positions, chronic coughing, tight collared shirts, and even limping.

So what can massage do for this tired, overused muscle? First, to find the specific dysfunctions, a detailed intake and muscle testing would be performed. Once the problem spots were pinpointed, various techniques would be performed to release the tension and break apart the trigger points. A few common techniques would include rolling, stripping, and pinching. I know these sound like torture but applied with a comfortable amount of pressure these techniques bring a lot of relief!